But he said Passport officials decided not to attend the press conference, where U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer and others urged the administration of Gov. Matt Bevin to try to resolve the dispute Passport said threatens its business as well as a new headquarters under construction on West Broadway.

"We've tried to stay out of the politics of it," Carter said. "I appreciate what they do."

And Carter said he strongly disputes claims by state Medicaid officials that a rate cut enacted last July is fair and based on sound results of independent actuaries the state hired.

Mark Carter, CEO of Passport Health Plan speaks during the announcement of Passport Health Plant and Evolent Health forming an alliance to creat the Medicaid Center of Excellence that will bring up to 500 jobs to Louisville.(Photo: Matt Stone/The Courier-Journal)

Rather, he said, the actuarial study the state relied on is flawed and based on faulty assumptions. Rates are based on a complex series of assumptions about a whole range of medical costs and patient needs; the state's actuarial study produced results that are illogical, Carter said.

"It appears to be the illogical result of a study that didn't have sufficient oversight," Carter said.

State officials have strongly defended the rate changes and did so again Monday when Scott Brinkman, Bevin's cabinet secretary, and Adam Meier, secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, showed up unexpectedly at the news conference and asked to speak.

"Passport was not singled out for a rate cut," Brinkman said.

The dispute began last year after the state changed rates it pays to Passport, a nonprofit company, and four commercial health insurance companies that oversee Medicaid health coverage throughout Kentucky.

Passport claims the rate cuts hit it disproportionately because the state decided to cut Medicaid payments by 4.1 percent in the Louisville region, where it does most of its business. Meanwhile, the state increased payments by 2.2 percent for the rest of the state, where the other four health plans serve most of the Medicaid enrollees.

It has reduced payments to some of its subcontractors who oversee services such as dental care and behavioral health. It has stopped all incentive bonuses to employees and enacted a hiring freeze.

It also has "restructured" its agreement with Evolent Health, a Virginia-based health company that specializes in community Medicaid plans and provides about 540 of of Passport's employees. Carter said it will cut payments to Evolent by about $8 million a year.